The present invention relates to a new and distinct variety of Quercus virginiana (Live oak) referred to by the varietal name `SDLN.`
The `SDLN` initially discovered tree was found as a seedling growing in a cultivated area of the Shadowlawn Nursery in Penney Farms, Fla., among a group of cultivated Live Oak seedlings. These seedlings were grown from acorns collected from an open-pollinated unnamed, unpatented mature Live Oak tree in Leesburg, Fla. The male parent tree is unknown.
`SDLN` was observed to have an upright habit and a dominant leader, dark-green foliage color, dense foliage arrangement, and true evergreen habit. Compared to common Live Oak trees observed by the inventor, this initially discovered tree had a rapid growth rate, lacked included bark, had small diameter lateral branches, had leaves which were about one inch to two inches long by about one-half inch wide and which were consistently dark green when mature, and exhibited a dense, narrow-oval canopy. The female parent Live Oak tree is a wide-spreading (about 60 feet wide by about 40 feet tall) tree with a multiple leader branching arrangement. In comparison, the new variety has an upright habit of growth and a dominant leader. These characteristics of my new variety have been observed to be fixed and reproduces true to type in progeny asexually propagated from cuttings taken from the initially discovered tree. Asexual propagation was performed at a nursery in Penny Farms, Fla.